I come from a Do-It-Yourself country, and after 30 months in India I'm still struggling with the Get-It-Done-By-Someone way of things. Exhibit A: my fledgling attempt at establishing a herb garden on the balcony (with a notable shoutout to someone ace who purchased some pots and got things rolling). There is an intangible satisfaction in planting things, tending them with occasional bursts of attention, and seeing them blossom - all the more-so in Delhi's intense weather. But my efforts are clashing with those of the weather-beaten old bloke who comes to my house every day to fight the dust. His higher order skill is gardening, but I've never had a sprig of green in my house so he's been stuck dustbusting for 29 of 30 months. Not that that's an insignificant task - if he went on leave my driveway would turn into the Thar Desert in about three days. But now that there are pots and promising green shoots he's all over them. Today he re-potted the week old zucchini sprouts, killed off the less promising tomatoes (sob) and de-symetricised the pot layout (de-symetricised I tell you!). Now I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate his hard work, but I'd almost double his salary if he'd just ignore the pots and let me have the simple cause-and-effect pleasure of seeing my seeds turn into tasty vegetables with no inputs other than the sun, the air and my hand on the watering can. These are not big issues (indeed they are pathetically small), but I'm learning I like doing the little things myself. Driveway dusting however is all his!
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